Are Auto Stem Cell Transplants More Effective On Outpatient Basis?

A new study suggests that Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantations (Auto-HCT) could be more effective across a number of different measurements if performed on an outpatient basis, compared to an inpatient basis.

Auto-HCT has not traditionally been regarded as a procedure that is done on an outpatient basis. However, this appears to be changing, and more and more patients are undergoing the procedure and then going home. Researchers reporting in the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation decided to carry out a retrospective analysis and determine if one was better than the other.

Researchers from the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee compared outcomes in 230 patients who underwent Auto-HCT either as inpatients or outpatients for either lymphoma or myeloma.

What they found included the following:

Median time to neutrophil recovery:

• Outpatients: 10 days
• Inpatients: 11 days

Median time to platelet recovery

• Outpatients: 19 days
• Inpatients: 20 days

Two-year progression free survival:

• Outpatient: 62 percent
• Inpatient: 54 percent

One and two year overall survival rates:

• Outpatients: 97 percent and 83 percent
• Inpatients: 91 percent and 80 percent

These data and others led them to conclude that "with daily outpatient evaluation and aggressive supportive care, outpatient Auto-HCT can result in excellent outcomes for myeloma and lymphoma patients."

Source: Bone Marrow Transplantation